Ben Becker: The NBA is trying to wiggle out of its TV deal with the Silna brothers

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all we have, but no one might be more thankful than Ozzie and Daniel Silna.

Who?

The brothers owned the long forgotten St. Louis Spirits, of the American Basketball Association, and are credited with "the greatest sports business deal of all time."

In 1976, the ABA's Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets and Denver Nuggets were absorbed into the NBA. As part of the deal, the Kentucky Colonels and St. Louis franchise were given the option of a $3 million settlement to fold their teams and walk away.

In a deal that would make Donald Trump proud, the Silnas struck an agreement to receive one-seventh of the yearly television revenue of the Pacers, Spurs, Nets and Nuggets in perpetuity.

That means forever.

The NBA currently has $7.4 billion in TV contracts with ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports.

In all, the brothers have pocketed more than $300 million. Their current cut from those four teams is approximately $20 million a year.

They could never have dreamed the NBA would grow into an international behemoth. But that little bit of foresight still is paying dividends today.

But that could be changing.

According to ESPN, the league is trying to wiggle out of the deal and is engaging in settlements talks.

However, the NBA lacks leverage. Not only is the agreement iron-clad, but a judge recently ruled that the brothers also have rights to Internet revenue.

With both brothers aging, it might be time to make a deal. But the NBA better be careful, because these two have a knack for making the league look like turkeys.

Stay Classy

Will Ferrell reportedly will guest-host the 6 p.m. SportsCenter on Dec. 5 as his alter-ego Ron Burgundy. This is an obvious tie-in to the release of "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues," which opens in theaters Dec. 20.

In the original "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," Ferrell delivered a memorable scene during a fictional 1979 SportsCenter "audition." Burgundy mocks ESPN's name and basically dismisses the idea of a sports network ever working. He also said there could never be a cooking network, or a music network.